ultrasound

Wisdom Tooth Extraction Leads to Giant Lung Abscess

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A unique complication of wisdom teeth removal is described in the article titled “A 45-Year-Old Man With Acute Chest Pain, Fever, and Dyspnea After Tooth Extraction” appearing in the December 2021 edition of Chest written by Tashiro et al. (issue 160, no. 6, pp. e623 – e628). In the article, discussion is made of a healthy 45-year-old man who experienced respiratory failure due to a giant lung abscess that formed as a result of oral bacteria after a wisdom tooth extraction. Two days after having a wisdom tooth removed, the 45-year-old man in Japan developed chest pain on his right side. Two weeks after the wisdom tooth extraction, the man went to a hospital because he had a fever, difficulty breathing, and had a cough and purulent sputum. The man was in good health and visited a dentist twice a … Read more

Photoacoustic Imaging for Periodontal Health in Humans

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Recently on this website research exploring using photoacoustic imaging for periodontal probe depths from University of California, San Diego, using swine models was discussed. This same group has since published an article titled “Photoacoustic imaging for monitoring periodontal health: A first human study,” by Moore et al. in Photoacoustics (vol. 12, pp. 67-74, 2018, published online November 01, 2018) where they show that a photoacoustic-ultrasound imaging approach can image the full depths and geometries of pockets in healthy human adults. Traditionally ultrasound uses the principle sound in and sound out but the photoacoustic-ultrasound approach uses light in, sound out. The advantageous of such an approach over traditional radiography is that it can image soft issue and that it does not cause ionizing radiation. The conventional method for dentists to monitor gingival health in humans is with a periodontal probe. This … Read more